securityaffairs.com

The Europol SIMCARTEL operation shows that fighting crime is essential, but it also raises a warning: in the EU, SIM cards and communications are already under strict surveillance and control. While dismantling criminal networks is a good cause, we must not let it justify the erosion of fundamental privacy and personal freedoms for everyone. We should invest in smarter, less intrusive ways to combat crime rather than resort to blanket surveillance so that both security and the right to live untracked can be preserved.

“Earlier this year, Russia’s foreign intelligence service stole internal emails and data on individuals from the UK government. The news was first reported by Recorded Future News, which obtained an official description of the incident report.

The fact that the issue was discovered by Google TAG suggests it was exploited by a nation-state actor or by a surveillance firm.